Revenge takes Time and Trouble to Brew
by Andysaurus
Summary: What if Billy never sees the letter; after all, Sullivan was really careless leaving it lying about. Given his earlier efforts to keep it from view, he should have put it in his desk. Note, I wonder if the scriptwriter slipped up technically. The Departed is set in the 80's. CD's were very new then. Would a CD burner and copying facilities be that easy for Billy to get hold of?
1. Chapter 1

That night Billy settled down to watch TV, the first time since before joining the Police Academy when he could do that just for relaxation. In reality he was not relaxed. He was stressed out. He needed company, but the company that he needed was off limits now. Cousin Shaun and Aunt Gladys? Well he could patch things up and become the notorious white sheep of the family; he felt guilty about involving Shaun in the dangerous drug dealings needed to attract Costello's attention. But now he had to think about his future. His tax free bonus had been $50,000. Did that mean he was rich? It only amounted to six years taxed pay. Maybe he could study for a new career. Maybe he should take a holiday snorkelling off some tropical island, say Puerto Rico or Hawaii.

His thoughts were distracted by the news. It was all about Costello's death. Funny that when Costello was alive he was off limits to the media. Now everyone was calling Costello a crook. And that slimy Sullivan was taking the credit for killing him; Billy hadn't known about that. Billy sensed someone on the make, at his expense. Not that he wanted to be in the news. He just wanted obscurity for now. Funny though. Sullivan hadn't really questioned Billy much at all. No true debrief. Was the supercilious slimy prick really that conceited, or just wanting to get Billy out of the way fast? Actually it did feel as if Sullivan had wanted Billy out of the way. Yet before, Sullivan had seemed anxious to have Billy abort the assignment. Something didn't add up. Think about it later. He needed to rest.

Maybe Dignum would demand answers. About Queenan's death. Well Dignum could come to him, he didn't work for that hateful cross wired ass any more. But why hadn't Sullivan asked him about that? Again, something didn't add up. Think about it later. He needed to rest.

Then his mobile rang. But who now could be ringing him now; he had to be on guard.


	2. Chapter 2

By the next lunch time, Billy knew the truth, or some of it. Last night, Costello's secretive lawyer had off loaded a car load of documents to Billy. Some were deeds to Costello's businesses - Billy was now a man of property, or would be if he took control of them. If they were legitimate of course. Others were bank statements and payments made over many years and needed further study. And then there was the box of tapes. Billy had played one, it was with some big sounding business man agreeing to a corrupt deal. If the other recordings were similar, they would be evidence for Costello to use in blackmailing, or to sell to the FBI. Or the Cops, Billy suddenly thought back to Costello's threats to the mole that he had overheard in the car. If Costello had been captured then the mole's days would be short lived.

He ought to report this to the cops, Costello's dirty assets didn't really interest him. But there might be answers here, answers that he wanted. Then caution kicked in; which Cops should this be given to anyway, he might be giving it straight to the mole. The FBI? They might be even more corrupt than the Cops - and whereas Cops like Sullivan just went around with a pompous sense of entitlement, the FBI were entitlement personified. He didn't know what Queenan had learned about the nature of FBI corruption, if it actually was corruption in the view of the FBI, only that it definitely existed. Billy might even be doing himself some harm if they got wind of this stash. He went through the tapes. None of the names on them meant anything to him so he would have to listen to them to determine what type of person was talking to Costello. Except for one tape, Sullivan's.


	3. Chapter 3

Billy spent half of the afternoon going through the rest of the documents and made two interesting discoveries. Over many, many, years Costello had been giving out small, really small, payments to various people including Sullivan. Sullivan would have been a kid at the time. Clearly Costello got people into crime at a young age. Then there were no more payments to Sullivan, except for some larger regular sums between 1 and 4 years ago. And they were to a Police Academy Banking account. Feeling the need to be thorough, Billy then found that there was one other person getting money from Costello within that exact time frame, Barrigan, while several others had earlier dates. He recalled that a Barrigan had also received the same small payments that Sullivan had, and at the same time. But only Barrigan turned up among the tapes, telling Costello about how he had become Staff Sergeant with the help of a friend. Billy could easily guess which friend. But it also posed a question : were the tapes only indicating the tip of the iceberg in terms of SIU corruption, not to mention any FBI corruption. The chances were that only the most important moles had direct dealings with Costello. Probably the others were paid cash by a go between, even a detailed forensic analysis of the bank statements might not find them all. But it meant that Billy would have to be very, very, careful.


	4. Chapter 4

Having had no lunch, Billy was getting really hungry now. However, he packed the documents away in a safe hidden place behind the hot water cylinder and concealed the tapes with his own music tapes. Then he went out for a decent meal and to buy food supplies. He would also need to buy equipment to copy the tapes and find out how he could duplicate the relevant documents. Then he could put the originals in a Safe Deposit Box, or Boxes.

It was dark when he got home, but he had what he needed. A Windows 3 PC that could burn CD's, a hi-fi system to get the tape signal to the PC, a small printer, a leased photocopier that he would need help in getting inside the house, and the beginning of a plan. Billy was not sure that trying to see Dignum when, or if, Dignum returned to duty was a good idea; that faggot Sullivan might smell a rat, and the more he thought about it, the more he suspected that Sullivan, with help, might be able to bury everything. Even without Sullivan, the stash might cause too much embarrassment to Cops, FBI, and God knows who else to ever see the light of day. But there was no way Sullivan was going to escape. When going to get his meal, Billy had noticed some news bill boards that had given him an idea - expose Sullivan and his friends to the press.


	5. Chapter 5

The next day was spent going through the tapes, copying them to the PC hard drive and then copying them to CD. He needed several copies of each, though he could always make more from the PC providing that he had access to it. He then made multiple photocopies of the Police related bank statements and other things that he wanted to burn the crooked cops with. He had drawn up a list of taped people with their possible occupations, of these three were FBI and some were political. One FBI creep, Lomax, was warning Costello about the joint FBI / Police raid earlier that year - he was acting for people higher up and it was obvious that the FBI were so arrogant about their duties that they had committed treason with the Chinese to protect Costello.

He decided to divide up the stash. The business deeds would go in one safe deposit box, he might need them for his own use if things went wrong. The other original documents went into another box and the tapes into another. He typed out a letter to Dignum on the PC, and for good measure put a copy in each 'box'. He then made out a will and put a signed copy in each box just in case of problems with the lawyer. Most of his financial assets would go to a police orphans charity, some money would go to cousin Shaun to help Aunt Gladys with her medical bills, the business deeds would go to Maddy, and his home would also go to Maddy on condition that she held on to it for long enough to see if her marriage was working out. Finally he typed in a transcript for the press and printed out a couple of copies.

The next morning, after depositing the stash in the safe deposit boxes, he returned the photocopier and went to Costello's lawyer to deposit a copy of his will. Naturally he did not trust the lawyer, but was willing to operate on a mutual interest basis - you look after my business and I will not mention you to the cops, unless I really have to. Then he went to the clinic to see Maddy and gave her the letter for Dignum, which included a copy of his will. She was to keep it for two weeks and then take it to the police (Dignum). If there was a problem take it to New York and give it to the police there, but not to the FBI. If anything happened to himself she was to open it. It would tell her about the lawyer he had left the other copy of the will with, and the truth about him and Sullivan, as well as about Barrigan and the FBI. He sensed that she wanted to tell him something but he told her to wait. Maybe she was having second thoughts, but for now it was better that she stick with what had. If she really did want to marry him it was better that he was a hero.

Next stop lunch, then the Boston Times Press Offices.


	6. Chapter 6

It did not take too long to get to a reporter interested in serious crime. Billy did not give his name, indicating only that he was acting in the interest of someone who could not go to the authorities with the evidence, it was just too hot because of major SIU and FBI corruption. He then played the CDs of Sullivan, Barrigan and Lomax. Once he had explained that Costello's threat in the recording gave Sullivan, now a popular hero, a need to remove Costello, it convinced the reporter and his senior colleagues of Sullivan's guilt.

Billy gave the reporter two copies of his transcript of undercover events, indicating FBI treason and the reasons for the murder of Queenan and Costello's removal. To help keep the FBI in the dark, it did not mention Dignum's involvement. He also gave them four sets of the CD's and duplicate sets of his names / occupation list and photocopies of the Police Academy Bank statements. They would publish the basic facts of SIU corruption in the Boston Times Evening Edition, stressing the duplicitous nature of Sullivan and his (presumed) involvement in Queenan's murder. In the morning edition they would publish the entire expose, warts and all. They would also state that the source of the information (Billy) would not reveal himself or the full extent of his evidence to the police, and only the police, unless Sullivan was imprisoned for corruption and (involvement in) Queenan's murder, while Barrigan and the others mentioned in the Bank statements were to be suspended for corruption. They were also to tar and feather Sullivan as much as possible.

The reporter would also send two sets of the CDs and their supporting material to their associated TV studio once the Evening Edition went on sale. The Studio's crime news reporter had said that he would try to ensure that they did a major feature to go out during the next evening prime time. They were to play the CD's of Sullivan, Barrigan, Lomax and the other two FBI creeps, so that all of Boston would know what crooks they where; anyway, that was the idea. There was also at least one political somebody who needed unfrocking. Billy stressed that "walls have ears" and that if the FBI got wind of this they would come down with both boots, take everything, and then begin a cover-up; at least that was what Billy feared. That is why he was supplying multiple copies, one for the cops and one for the FBI. The press just had to make sure that the backup copies were somewhere far away and safe. They were also to find out where Sullivan and also Barrigan lived. Maybe the press could also dig up something about the other possible cops in the bank statements.


	7. Chapter 7

Billy returned home to tidy up and pack. He might be away a long time and would need clothing, possibly his TV and radio, and the PC and printer. After a light meal he put them in the car and left. For now, he wanted a clean motel room where he could put his stuff, adjoining a decent restaurant where he could get the evening paper.

Such a place was easy to find and had the advantage of being within the city limits. It was the sort frequented by nondescript business travellers rather than truckers. For now, he would try to pose as a nondescript business man looking for work. His every day 'co-ordinated' interview suit was too casual for this, but the black formal suit would do if matched with a striped tie.

Going for a quiet meal, he was able to read the evening Boston Times. The story was brief but damming, promising more revelations to come. Well, most of the revelations would be coming from the associated TV channel tomorrow. He doubted if the police would show any more than casual interest, yet. Certainly, the few diners who also had the paper were sceptical that it was just media hype. Later he phoned the reporter to check on events. The only news was that the TV company was on track to do as Billy wanted.


	8. Chapter 8

After breakfast he phoned the reporter again. There was surprise news. The morning edition had gone out a few hours before, but then they had been hit by the FBI who had seised all the material that they could find. However, this had gone as Billy had planed for, the reporters having hidden the photocopies and CD set for the police, indeed they had duplicated them. It looked like being paranoid was a good idea. Billy surmised that the FBI 's local operatives knew the truth and were scared. The paper was going to have some fun with the evening edition, as would the TV headline news.

Billy considered staying in the motel room most of the day. However, he was concerned about his image. He looked too formal for the business type, more like a lawyer or an undertaker. Driving into the city, he visited a barbers and had a hair cut. Gone was the fashionable buzzcut, replaced by the simple buzzcut he had as a police cadet. The beard could grow, it made him look more mature, and sinister. Then he went to a large clothing store to get a business suit. He wanted something that stood out but did not look expensive, just tasteful. He remembered a suit that he had seen on a fellow cadet just before Queenan had interviewed him. He had not been looking directly at the cadet, who had an arrogant walk, just the suit. Odd, the memory seemed familiar somehow. Had he seen a man with that walk more recently? He remembered it as metallic grey, flashy and pompous. But nice. He chose a metallic dark blue three piece suit, more his type of colour than grey, made from a high polyester mix instead of mohair. It looked nice though. But it did not go well with his beaten up car, any more than his black suit did. Still, he could make up a cover story. He also bought two trillby hats, a navy one to go with his new suit and a black one that would go with either the black suit or his usual dark informal attire.

Just before lunch, he phoned the reporter again. Nothing else had happened at The Boston Times offices. Reporters had gone to the SIU and the FBI offices, but had been stonewalled. Inside contacts said that the SIU were acting like The Keystone Cops, with Sullivan being able to dismiss everything. He was The Staff Sergeant. He was the Hero of the Costello's elimination. Sullivan could do no wrong.

Billy decided that he needed to be equipped for spying and surveillance on possible enemies. He found a large photography store and bought a pair of small binoculars. They could be concealed and used around the city, as if he was a sightseer. He also bought a large pair, the better to spot the FBI wolf with.

Returning to his car, he phoning the reporter again in the late afternoon. The reporter was now able to tell Billy where Sullivan and Barrigan lived. The evening edition would have photos of Sullivan, Barrigan and Lomax. Unlike the other two FBI agents, Lomax was no mere grunt. All that had interested Billy was Sullivan's address, but he might need to know what Barrigan and Lomax looked like.

He decided to check out Sullivan's address. Once there, he used the binoculars to see if Sullivan was around and then went in and found out which apartment Sullivan lived in. He also learned from the janitor that Sulivan had a co-tenant, his girl friend. Interesting. Did she know what she was marrying?

Going back outside, he used his binoculars to scan the apartments from the outside. What should be Sullivan's apartment had no lights on, so he decided to park the car and go to the SIU using the most likely route that Sullivan would take on foot. Outside the SIU, Billy then waited for Sullivan to appear. About an hour after the end of the day shift, Sullivan appeared and walked home, shadowed by Billy. After waiting an hour, Billy was confidant that Sullivan was not planning to go to his home, at least not yet, so Billy drove back to the motel. He would be in good time to get dinner and then watch the peak time news.

That night, The Boston Times News Channel did quite an article on police, FBI , and Government corruption, both real and imagined, and played the CDs as Billy had asked for. In fact it went to town in tarring and feathering Sullivan, Barrigan and Lomax. But would it rouse the SIU from it's slumber?


	9. Chapter 9

After breakfast, Billy watched the morning news and then phoned the reporter. The fiction that Billy was acting for an undercover cop in hiding was wearing thin, but the reporter was happy to play along with it. And with good reason. The FBI had hit the TV studio hard, but had failed to get it's hands on the duplicate CDs and documents. The FBI would pay dearly for this in the press. So far the SIU were still in a state of confusion. Billy decided to pay the SIU a visit and see what the reporters were up to.

In the meantime, Billy would have been glad to know that both the local rank and file FBI agents and their top brass were scared. The FBI, for all its arrogance, relied on the idea that it was the protector of the state. But this image was now tarnished. Police forces and judges might not be prepared to grovel to FBI demands. And not all of it's top brass thought that the end justified the means. Unfortunately for now, the FBI reaction was that of a vicious knee jerk. Sanity would only come when its political masters started to demand an accounting and heads started to roll.

Maddy had, until now, been unaffected by the revelations. Colin had been preoccupied, worried even, about the previous day's work which had made him short tempered, which was unusual. That morning she got some strange stares when leaving the apartment building's lobby. Then when she got into work, she got some very strange stares from the reception staff. And their conversation had cut off, dead. Later, in the staff common room, a close colleague gave her their condolences about being married to a dirty cop. Maddy bristled, demanding an explanation. _Hadn't she seen the news?_ What about? _The police and FBI corruption scandal._ She didn't have time for such tittle tattle. _Well she should_ : the police and FBI corruption scandal had been in the Boston Times yesterday and on the news last night, there had even been recordings played of the gang leader Costello doing deals with the police and the FBI, including Colin Sullivan.

Maddy was stunned. Married to a crook! And she had thought that Billy was a crook, though she always felt that he was under some sort of duress. She had often wished that she had insisted that Billy go to the police. Confused and unsettled she went to her office. She got Billy's letter put of the drawer. Should she open it? No. His instructions were specific, and it might have nothing to do with Colin. She needed to visit the SIU. She put back the letter, cancelled the afternoon pre booked appointment and left for the SIU.


	10. Chapter 10

Billy was ready for lunch. The reporters had left the SIU, disappointed by yet more stonewalling. However, the demeanour of the cops had changed. Before, the media cop had given totally vacuous speeches about investigating the allegations, not admitting that the FBI had gone in before them. Then a Captain Ellerby had come out to give another, rather angry, vacuous speech about investigating the evidence. Ellerby was also too much of a bloody minded bull, too much like Dignam, for Billy's liking. Not at all like Queenan. However, Ellerby's tone was more serious. Billy phoned the reporter about what had been going on and was told that the police had finally visited both the Boston Times and it's TV channel partner, and received the duplicate evidence that had been hidden from the FBI's clutches.

Then Billy noticed Maddy heading towards the SIU. She looked preoccupied and worried. He walked up to her. Eventually she recognised him. So, the suit was disguising him, but it might be mainly due to his hat. Maddy was completely flabbergasted by his appearance and wanted to know what had happened to him. A change of employment he replied, and asked her if she wanted to talk and have lunch. She hesitated, then reluctantly replied, yes, both, but she needed to go to the SIU and ask about the allegations against her fiancée. Billy was now incredulous. What was his name. "Sullivan", Maddy replied. "That Rat Faced Faggot", Billy gasped! Billy grasped Maddy and said that they needed to talk, now!

Billy took Maddy to the nearest decent restaurant that he knew of which also offered some privacy and ordered food for them both. Then he explained that though he had never lied to her, he could never tell her that he had worked as an undercover cop. He had Costello's stash of evidence of state corruption, possibly on a massive scale. The problem was getting it safely out into the open, and getting revenge on Sullivan for the murder of Captain Queenan and the living hell that he had lived through over the last six months.

No wonder Billy needed drugs to sleep, Maddy thought. She now realised that her diagnosis of Billy's mental state had serious omissions and that he was deeply in need of additional treatment. Well, she could give him that. He needed affection, security, and a different aim in life. She told him about his baby son yet to be born, a son who would need his father. That stunned Billy into silence, he just felt so inadequate. Maddy reassured Billy that he could be a good father, but she also wanted to know about the evidence of Colin's corruption. After lunch, Billy took her to his motel room and switched on the PC.

Things did not go well for Sullivan that day. First his arrival at work, with Chinese whispers everywhere and being cut out of any conversation. Then that afternoon, Ellerby ordered that he, along with Barrigan, be suspended pending investigation of recordings and other possible evidence collected that morning from the Boston Times; witnesses were needed to confirm a Costello vocal identification. Sullivan was nonplussed by this, and had to be really vacuously creative on the fly. Finally, when he got home, Maddy was missing as was a lot of her stuff, and there was a note on the table saying that she loved him but she knew the truth, the CD would explain why she had left him. Also, she wrote, he was not the only one who had lied, her baby's real father was a former patient who would raise him to be an honest and decent person. Maybe it was time for Sullivan to jump ship and run. Sullivan got on the phone to Barrigan to see if he also felt that way.


	11. Postscript

The following morning, under Maddy's urging, Billy gave an anonymous interview to the TV studio which explained his situation, and then went with Maddy to see Captain Ellerby. Ellerby was far from pleased but reluctantly conceded the failings of the SIU and the FBI. Ellerby decided that the best course of action was to reinstate Billy in the SIU, at least for now. Billy could be set to work on the forensic investigation of the stash.

Maddy moved into Billy's home, which Billy redecorated after they had the tropical holiday he had been dreaming of. Billy was then set to work under the newly appointed Captain Dignum, doing a mixture of surveillance and investigation. Billy worked hard but Dignum did not give Billy the promotion he deserved, though he did put Billy on the maximum pay scale. Before Billy decided to try his hand at something else, Dignum promoted Billy to full Staff Sergeant, responsible for managing the undercover agents just as Dignum had done before.

They never did catch up with Sullivan or Barrigan. Evidently Sullivan had an escape plan just in case he was discovered. Actually, Sullivan had only devised a serious one in the few days between discovering Queenan's FBI file and Costello's murder. They hid out in the midwest before heading to Texas to cash in on the illegal migrant smuggling and drugs rackets. Sullivan managed a precarious living as a crooked lawyer and Barrigan acted his crooked cop.


End file.
